KiHa 01 series
KiHa 01 series is an umbrella term used to refer to the KiHa 01, 02 and 03 series Japanese small two-axle diesel railcars, also referred to as railbuses. Built from 1954 to 1956 for JNR, the KiHa 01 series was used as a suburban diesel railcar, although their use was diminished with problems arising with the cars themselves. History Inspired by the German concept of the railbus after visiting West Germany, then-president of the JNR Sōnosuke Nagasaki ordered the development of railbuses in Japan, keen to find out what performance the to-be-constructed railbuses would bring to the table. However, JNR's technical team was not so keen on the idea, thinking that the development of a railbus would be unnecessary and that large diesel railcars would be enough. Despite this, forty-nine cars were manufactured by Tokyu Car Corporation (now known as J-TREC) from 1954 to 1956. The cars were originally intended to be used on the JR Hakuhō Line which was considered as an unnecessary line by the JNR at the time, with the intention being that the costs for production would be lowered with the KiHa 01 series cars having bigger and lower doors to take advantage of the low platform height. However, with the Hakuhō Line being converted into a bus line in the coming years and the freight near the line being transported by Class DD11 diesels, the KiHa 01 series cars were unable to be used on said line. As a result, the door's dimensions were changed back to normal dimensions and the cars were hastily put into service on the Kihara Line (present-day Isumi Railway Isumi Line). While the cars were effective at their intended role, many problems began to surface while the cars were in operation; the most apparent of which was that the cars were far too small to deal with rush hour-like crowds, only being able to seat 36 to 40 passengers at a time. In addition, as multiple-unit train control was not implemented on the cars to begin with in an effort to save costs, two drivers were required to drive both cars (one in each), increasing personnel expenses. Even the ride experience itself was not free of issues; the cars were very jittery and noisy, with ride comfort being practically non-existent due to vibrations; the seats were not much different, as they were very cheaply made in another effort to reduce costs. As the cars were so small, a toilet could not be fitted, and as such, made the cars unsuitable for long-distance operations and were considered to not be sufficiently versatile in their intended role. The final nail in the KiHa 01 series' coffin was their body structure; as the bodies of the cars was designed according to bus specifications, their intended service life was far shorter than what it should have been due to extremely rapid aging. Due to all of these issues, the cars were completely retired from service by late 1962, with scrapping of the cars taking place shortly after. None were exported to outside countries or sold to private railways within Japan, and no direct successor to the cars was ever manufactured, as it was felt that the railbus offered no distinct advantages over a normal bus. One car, KiHa 03 1, has been preserved at the Otaru Museum since 2011 and has been gazetted as a future railroad monument. Another car, KiHa 02 9, was also preserved at the ruins of Hizen-Ikeno Station and was converted to a children's library, but due to massive vandalism sustained over the next few years, the car was scrapped in approximately 1983. Design The cars have a slightly streamlined style and a single top-mounted headlamp. The car bodies were designed by Fuji Heavy Industries (now known as Subaru Corporation). Specifications Construction is of steel. Each car is 10.9 meters long. The cars use Hino DS22 inline-six prime movers, although pre-production models would use the Hino DS21 inline-six prime mover instead. The DS22 prime movers produce 75 PS (74 HP, 55 kW) at 1,700 RPM and have a displacement of 7.0L (427 ci). The cars have a mechanical four-speed step shift manual transmission with a similar clutch to that of a bus. The cars were designed for cold-weather operations and were based in Hokkaido, with the KiHa 01 series cars having their cold-weather resistant equipment later removed and were later relegated to be used in other regions of Japan. References Category:JR Group trains Category:Diesel Trainsets Category:Tokyu Car locomotives